BREAKING: David Gregory announces at the end of “Meet the Press” that Savannah Guthrie will interview President Obama for the NBC News “Today” show on Tuesday, on topics that include guns, immigration and North Korea.

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THE FULL MARCO: Sen. Marco Rubio pre-tapes seven Sunday-show two-ways from the Biltmore Hotel in Miami this a.m. (in the chair for a little over two hours, starting at 7:15 a.m.), pre-selling “Gang of Eight” immigration deal that is expected to be unveiled Tuesday:

RUBIO to Jonathan Karl, guest host of ABC’s “This Week,” re the package’s pathway to citizenship: “[I]t does not give anything. It allows people access to the legal immigration system. Number two, some people won’t qualify. They haven’t been here long enough; they’ve committed very serious crimes. They won’t be able to stay. Number three is: All people will get [is] an opportunity to apply … for a legal status, which isn’t awarded on Day One. … You have to pay an application fee and a fine, and you are going to have to stay in that status while you pay taxes and prove that you are not a public charge. And you don’t qualify for any federal benefits.

“And after some period of time, over 10 years that’s elapsed, the only thing you will get -- assuming that the border is secure, that E-Verify is in place, that an entry-exit system is in place for tracking visas -- then the only thing you get is the chance to apply for a green card, like everybody else does. The only thing you are earning here is an opportunity to apply for temporary status, and ultimately potentially to apply for a green card.”

RUBIO to Gregory, on “Meet”: “I'm a senator. I get paid not to just give speeches. I get paid to solve problems. This is a serious problem here in Florida. … [T]his is a serious problem in America. We have millions of people in this country who are illegally here. We don't know who they are, where they are. … [M]any of them aren't paying taxes. It's not good for them, obviously, either. It's not good for our economy. …

“I've been very clear about my principles of what reform needs to look like. And if this bill were to somehow to abandon those principles via the amendment process or what have you, certainly I wouldn't support that. But I don't anticipate that. … It is not the take-it-or-leave-it offer. It is a starting point of reform. … [T]here are 92 other senators who have ideas of their own. And I think that, from them, we are going to get ways to improve this. … Now, there are amendments designed to undermine this. There are amendments that will be designed to make this thing undoable. And obviously, I'll oppose those.”

RUBIO to Bob Schieffer on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” on whether he thinks immigration bill can get passed this year: “I do. I’m optimistic about it. I think this bill answers all of the questions that people raise. That’s why it’s taken so long, that’s why we spent so much time on it. … This bill does three things that are fundamentally important for our country. It modernizes our legal immigration system – something we need to do no matter what. It puts in place the toughest enforcement measures in the history of the United States, potentially in the world. And it once and for all deals with the issue of those that are here illegally, but does so in a way that is fair and compassionate but does not encourage people to come illegally in the future, and isn’t unfair to the people that have done it the right way. … [I]t will be a long process, hopefully a very open process. And I think it will take some time but I believe we can get there.”

RUBIO to Candy Crowley on CNN’s “State of the Union,” on the plan’s security provisions: “First of all, a universal E-Verify system, which means you won’t be able to find a job in the United States if you can’t pass that check. Secondly, an entry-exit system. … 40 percent of our illegal immigration are people that enter legally and then they overstay their visas. And we don’t really know who they are, because for the most part, we only track when people come in. We don’t track even when they leave. And third is real border security, including fencing. And all these three things are going to happen, because they are triggers.”

QUESTION DU JOUR WAS 2 WORDS LONG:

CANDY CROWLEY, to Rubio: “You seem to be the go-to guy for this Gang of Eight. Do you think this would help or hurt Marco Rubio if he, perhaps, ran for president in 2016?”

RUBIO: “You know, I haven't even thought about it in that way …”

CROWLEY: “Seriously, Senator?”

RUBIO: “… I really haven't. I have a job. My belief has always been that if I do my job and I do my job well, I'll have options and opportunities in the future to do things -- whether it's run for reelection, run for something else or give someone else a chance at public service. And that's how I view this issue.”

RUBIO ON GUNS, to Chris Wallace of “Fox News Sunday”: “I am very skeptical of any plan that deals with the Second Amendment because invariably, these gun laws end up impeding on the rights of people to bear arms who are law abiding and do nothing to keep criminals from buying them. Criminals don't care what the law is. … [W]e're missing a golden opportunity here. We're focusing so much on guns. We should be focused on violence. Violence is the problem. … I hope we'll focus on mental illness. I hope we'll focus on prosecution.” Transcript http://fxn.ws/1315ONM

PLAYING HURT -- Gregory, as he began his interview with Rubio: “I have to apologize for sounding like Peter Brady from ‘The Brady Bunch’ this morning. I'm a little under the weather, so bear with me.” Rubio shot back with a chuckle: “I just thought you were gettin' emotional.”

--N.Y. Times 1-col. lead, “OBAMA’S BUDGET REVIVES BENEFITS AS DIVISIVE ISSUE: RESISTANCE ON THE LEFT -- Opportunity for Liberal Challenges Seen in 2014 and ’16,” by Jackie Calmes, with Sarah Wheaton: “Liberal groups and some union activists are threatening to recruit candidates to challenge … Democrats in their primaries. … Even if Democratic incumbents do not draw a primary challenger, liberal activists say, they might face a shortage of volunteers motivated enough to do the hard work of campaigning — just as Democrats did in the 2010 midterms, which resulted in big Republican gains. Looking further ahead, to 2016, some on the left have already begun talking about encouraging a liberal Democrat — the freshman Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is the name most bandied — to take up the ‘don’t touch Social Security or Medicare’ banner as part of a liberal bid for the party’s nomination to succeed Mr. Obama, even against Hillary Rodham Clinton or Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

“Such talk was stoked when Ms. Warren, within hours of the release of the president’s budget on Wednesday, sent supporters an e-mail sounding an alarm: ‘Our Social Security system is critical to protecting middle-class families, and we cannot allow it to be dismantled inch by inch.’” http://nyti.ms/132rlln

--WashPost 1.5-col. lead, “Obama’s agenda at a crucial juncture: LEGACY COULD HING ON DOMESTIC GOALS -- Guns, budget, immigration demand different approaches,” by Scott Wilson and Zachary A. Goldfarb, with Paul Kane: “[S]enior administration officials acknowledge that only immigration legislation has a chance of resembling Obama’s ideal bill … Each morning, the new White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough, reviews the overall legislative progress with senior staff. Inside the White House, each issue has a group responsible for its day-to-day management on Capitol Hill. … Obama … [was] prepared to introduce his own [immigration] bill during a visit to Las Vegas to break a long-standing deadlock among Senate negotiators. Administration officials said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a Gang of Eight member, called the White House a few days before the Jan. 29 event. Schumer said the group was close to reaching consensus on a bill and asked Obama to hold off on announcing his own in order to avoid disrupting the talks. Obama agreed. …

“Inside the White House, the [immigration] issue is being managed by Cecilia Muñoz, director of the Domestic Policy Council. Administration officials acknowledge that immigration is the issue on which they can be the most patient, given that many Republicans are eager to repair relations with the fast-growing Latino electorate after the November election. … The [guns] issue is being managed by Biden’s office … The budget process is being handled by the same men who have been running it for several years: National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors.” http://wapo.st/10UMpZp

MOOD MUSIC:

--SHOT: L.A. Times lead story, “Building boom is back: Despite a surge in construction, a dearth of inventory is fueling bidding wars and camp-outs for a limited supply of new dwellings” … PARADE magazine cover story, “AMERICA SAVES: TIME TO GET BACK IN THE HOUSING GAME? Expert tips and tricks for navigating the new rules of real estate.”

** A message about BP's commitment to America: Over the last five years, BP has been America's largest energy investor. Each year, we invest an average of $11 billion here and produce nearly enough oil, gas and renewables to light the entire country. In the process, we support almost 250,000 American jobs. Learn more about our commitment to America at facebook.com/BPAmerica **

SECSTATE’S ASIA SWING – “Kerry says U.S. ready to 'reach out' to North Korea,” by Reuters’ Arshad Mohammed and Kiyoshi Takenaka, in Tokyo: “Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday stressed the United States is willing to engage with North Korea as long as it takes steps to give up nuclear weapons. … ‘We are prepared to reach out but we need (the) appropriate moment, appropriate circumstance,’ Kerry said, adding that North Korea had to take steps towards giving up its nuclear programmes. ‘They have to take some actions. Now how many and how much, I want to have a discussion with folks back in Washington (about) ... but they have to take action,’ Kerry told a small group of reporters.”

--AFP/Tokyo: "US 'committed' to defend Japan from N. Korea threats ... Secretary of State John Kerry tells Japan the United States will protect it from North Korea's threats, as he calls on Pyongyang to go back to the negotiating table."

OBAMA WEEKLY ADDRESS delivered by someone other than POTUS or VPOTUS for first time in this administration -- Francine Wheeler, whose 6-year-old son, Ben, was killed in Newtown: “Hi. As you’ve probably noticed, I’m not the President. I’m just a citizen. And as a citizen, I’m here at the White House today because I want to make a difference and I hope you will join me. My name is Francine Wheeler. My husband David is with me. We live in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. David and I have two sons. Our older son Nate, soon to be 10 years old, is a fourth grader at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Our younger son, Ben, age six, was murdered in his first-grade classroom on December 14th, exactly 4 months ago this weekend. … On what turned out to be the last morning of his life, Ben told me, quite out of the blue, ‘ still want to be an architect, Mama, but I also want to be a paleontologist, because that’s what Nate is going to be and I want to do everything Nate does.’ …

“When I packed for Washington on Monday, it looked like the Senate might not act at all. Then, after the President spoke in Hartford, and a dozen of us met with Senators to share our stories, more than two-thirds of the Senate voted to move forward. But that’s only the start. They haven’t yet passed any bills that will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. And a lot of people are fighting to make sure they never do. … Help this be the moment when real change begins.” YouTube http://bit.ly/178EZnp

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: “The Obamas' falling tax rate,” by Steven Sloan and Kelsey Snell: “President Obama and his wife, Michelle, paid the lowest effective tax rate since they moved into the White House by taking advantage of the most popular — and expensive — benefits in the tax code. Tax returns released by the White House on Friday show that the Obamas paid an effective tax rate of 18.4 percent on more than $608,000 in adjusted gross income earned in 2012. Last year, their rate was 20.5 percent. They were able to lower the amount of income on which they were taxed by more than $258,000 by claiming several big-ticket deductions. The first family’s biggest deduction by far stems from the $150,034 in donations they made to 33 charities, including the Fisher House Foundation, a charity that helps the families of wounded veterans, and the Sidwell Friends School, where the president’s daughters attend.” http://politi.co/17z8TEC

MEDIAWATCH – “Ex-AP writer [George] McArthur, who covered Vietnam, dies,” by Richard Pyle, a former AP Saigon bureau chief: “George McArthur, who was the quintessential foreign correspondent as he reported from the boulevards of Paris to the sands of the Middle East and jungles of Vietnam, has died. He was 88. His wife, Eva Kim McArthur said he died Friday night in a hospice in Fairfax County, Va., of complications from a stroke 17 days earlier. … McArthur cultivated Soviet and other communist-state reporters as friends, and the trust paid off with exclusive bits of inside information from the ongoing peace talks at Panmunjom. In one case, McArthur recalled recently, his source made the deal in exchange for a box of condoms from the PX. …

“In 1951, McArthur was one of several youthful AP staffers who volunteered to replace the aging ex-World War II retreads first dispatched to Seoul after communist North Korea's invasion of South Korea in July 1950. It was a new experience for McArthur and his colleagues, who were dubbed the ‘boy correspondents.’ But he recalled the remark of a veteran United Press reporter, Bob Vermillion, that ‘if you can't cover war, you can't cover anything.’ … Edith Lederer, who is now AP's chief United Nations correspondent, first met McArthur in Vietnam. ‘George's courage, keen eye and story-telling skills gave readers around the world a front-row seat on major events of the 20th century.””

TOP TALKER -- Chicago Tribune lead story, “Video screen may be financial hit for Cubs: Sports, marketing experts go behind numbers of proposed Wrig[l]ey [copy editor on holiday!] board,” by Robert Channick and Gregory Karp: “To end more than a century of World Series futility, the Chicago Cubs say they need a level financial playing field. And that means, team officials say, adding a huge video screen to Wrigley Field, a vintage ballpark that in many ways appears unchanged since it opened in 1914. While the Ricketts family, which owns the Cubs and the ballpark, is embroiled with neighboring rooftop owners and the city in a political battle over a proposed $300 million renovation of Wrigley, all sides appear to understand that the team must add an oversized television to a designated Chicago landmark and national baseball shrine. … Wrigley is the only major pro sports facility in the country without Diamond Vision or one of the other brand-name video screens sometimes referred to as Jumbotrons. The Boston Red Sox, who play at historic Fenway Park, were the most recent to join the club, installing one in 2011. … [I]ndustry sources said a screen at a ballpark like Wrigley could generate several million dollars a year, perhaps as much as $5 million. …

“Some baseball purists will decry the idea of a giant video screen at bucolic Wrigley Field as a crass intrusion. But the Cubs have conducted several surveys in recent years, asking fans what changes should be made at Wrigley Field, and an increasing number have said they would like to see a video screen. … [T]hat may be a more difficult argument to make for the Cubs, who have a national fan base, a ballpark considered a shrine by many and an attendance of nearly 2.9 million last year — 10th in the majors — despite a miserable 101-loss season. … Sources say the team envisions a 5,000-square-foot, high-definition video screen rising behind the left field stands. Such a move might obstruct the view from some rooftop clubs, but Cubs executives are hopeful that they can come up with a solution to satisfy those owners, the city, neighbors and fans. …

“Mitsubishi installed the first large-scale video screen at Dodger Stadium in 1980. The company's Diamond Vision brand … remains a major player, along with Panasonic, which sells Lighthouse screens from China, and South Dakota-based Daktronics. Sony, whose Jumbotron brand became the generic trademark, … exited the business more than a decade ago. … The [Dallas] Cowboys' huge screen will soon be eclipsed by a 14,550-square-foot HD screen at Reliant Stadium in Houston, home of the NFL's Houston Texans. Both would be dwarfed by the Jacksonville Jaguars' proposal to build two 20,625-square-foot end zone screens, which along with a new control room would cost $50 million.” http://trib.in/113yY8l

SPORTS BLINK – N.Y. Times A1, “Attention, Second-Guessers: Golf Takes Calls (and Texts),” by Bill Pennington and Karen Crouse in Augusta, Ga.: “Tiger Woods … was assessed a two-stroke penalty Saturday for hitting from the wrong spot on Friday, a violation first flagged by a television viewer. … The catalyst for the rules controversy began with a … text message. A friend of a rules official saw something on television that looked improper, an illegal drop by Woods after his ball plunked into a pond at the 15th hole. Masters officials would not reveal the identity of the texter, but the claim was brought before the Masters rules committee, which decided there was no violation. Then, about an hour later, Woods inadvertently implicated himself, saying that before dropping the ball he had taken two steps back, which was not permitted under the circumstances. … Unheard-of in other sports, communication between viewers and tournament officials happens nearly every week on the professional golf tours.

“At the Masters, officials said hundreds of viewers contacted the club with suspected rules infractions. Most often, they call the club, whose phone number is easy to find on the Internet. … Asked why it happens in golf, [Bubba] Watson answered, ‘Maybe it’s because our sport is so slow, people have time to call.’ Many try contacting the network broadcasting the event. Many go directly to the United States Golf Association because it oversees the rules of golf in this country. And others contact the PGA Tour itself, whose phone number is easily found. … At Augusta National Golf Club, … any rules infraction phone call coming through the main switchboard is sent to the tournament headquarters office. … [G]olf … is largely policed by players who routinely call penalties on themselves … Looking the other way when a rule is breached would be considered offensive to the game’s integrity, as well as the sense that golf is governed by an unseen karma known as the rub of the green.” http://nyti.ms/178gpmG

--Official “Statement from Tournament Headquarters” on Tiger penalty: “After being prompted by a television viewer, the Rules Committee reviewed a video of the shot while he was playing the 18th hole.” http://bit.ly/YEDX3h

40TH BIRTHDAY FOR Peggy Ioakim of Karma Lounge, hair stylist to some of D.C.'s biggest power players. She's styled hair in the Lincoln Bedroom, Blair House and at national conventions for many government officials, celebrities, members of the media, and K Streeters. Peggy received much attention after styling Michele Salahi before State Dinner crashing incident, and was called to testify before a federal grand jury. (hat tip: Tom Manatos)

ROBERT HUGHES, who traveled on the George W. Bush campaign plane in 2000, was 26 yesterday, and is now a third-year law student at the University of Texas. He celebrated with brunch at Z Tejas in Austin. Karen (worldwide vice chair of Burson-Marsteller) is at Harvard Institute of Politics as a fellow this spring. She and Jerry came home for the birthday -- and to check on their remodeling.

A TWO-FER! Melissa Schwartz, Vice President, Strategy and External Affairs, The Bromwich Group: “Even though I hear you wouldn’t include my birthday last week (sent over from Nana Efua Embil!!), I did want to make sure you had a heads up that Blake Androff, Deputy Communications Director for the DOI, will be celebrating” today.

DESSERT – L.A. Times A1, “Tickets turn dinner into a commitment: At the upscale new Trois Mec, diners will be charged upfront to discourage no-shows,” by Betty Hallock: “Beverly Hills restaurant Red Medicine shamed diners who didn't turn up for their Saturday night reservations by calling them out on Twitter. … This … week, anyone looking to score a table at hotly anticipated Trois Mec, the new restaurant from celebrity chefs Ludo Lefebvre, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, will have to buy tickets — just as they would for a movie or a concert. The 26-seat Trois Mec, which opens Thursday in an unmarked former pizza joint in a Melrose Avenue strip mall, will be the first restaurant in Los Angeles to sell nonrefundable tickets online — nearly $100 with tax and tip (not including wine) … Restaurants such as Urasawa in Beverly Hills require a credit-card hold with a $100-per-person cancellation fee. Saison in San Francisco[:] if you cancel within 72 hours of your reservation, you're … required to pay the full cost of the meal (it has one menu, priced at $298 per person).” http://lat.ms/ZpQp2J

--AN UNEXPECTED PLEASURE … “The Hotel Issue” of WashPost Travel section: F1, “It’s all by design: To figure out how to configure a room, hotels study the traveler species,” by Becky Krystal: “To show … the hotel room of the future, [Paul Cahill, senior vice president for global brand management at Marriott Hotels & Resorts/JW Marriott Hotels] takes me to Marriott’s … innovation lab in … company headquarters in Bethesda. … There’s no closet in the rooms. Instead, they have open shelves and a space big enough to slide in a suitcase for the non-unpackers and a rod for hanging clothes for the unpackers. … I cuddle with my laptop on the bed. Suddenly the work zone has collided with the sleeping zone, and the original work zone, a.k.a. the desk, is moot. I throw my coat there. … The bed-cum-business center is resulting in at least one significant upgrade — more electrical outlets near the bed. … Cahill says that hotels have to ask themselves whether there should even be a desk these days.” http://wapo.st/YmJ43K

--WashPost F3, “The Navigator” column by Christopher Elliott, “Surprise! Hotels are canceling their liberal cancellation policies. In some parts of the country, the cancellation window is being pushed back to within 48 or 72 hours of your arrival”: “[O]ften, hotel companies bury their cancellation terms in the fine print. … Dan Firth … recently reserved a room at a Super 8 property in Pittston, Pa., through its Web site. … His online reservation was nonrefundable, as disclosed on its site. … Elite-level membership in a hotel’s loyalty program can get the policy waived … You can dispute the charge on your credit card, as long as you present adequate evidence that the policy wasn’t properly disclosed.” http://wapo.st/Zio0yx

** A message about BP's commitment to America: BP invests more in America than any other country, and we reinvest every dollar we earn here and more. We employ more than 21,000 Americans in 49 states, making us the nation's second largest oil and gas employer. We hired over 2,700 employees last year. These investments, the energy they produce and the jobs they support are part of our commitment to America. Join the conversation at facebook.com/BPAmerica. **

****** A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs (CAPD): The high prices that drug makers set for prescription drugs can put financial strain on patients, employers, unions and others who provide health care coverage to more than 50 percent of Americans. Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate the lowest net price for prescriptions on behalf of employers, unions and government programs. But, as list prices – the starting point for those negotiations -- continue their nearly double-digit increases, the effects ripple throughout the system. The key to ensuring greater access and affordability lies in fostering greater competition. Facilitating faster reviews of generics and biosimilars, identifying off-patent drugs with little or no generic competition, and ending anti-competitive practices that keep safe, effective alternatives out of the market are also key to abating rising drug costs for patients. Learn more at affordableprescriptiondrugs.org******

Authors:

About The Author

Mike Allen is the chief White House correspondent for POLITICO. He comes to us from Time magazine where he was their White House correspondent. Prior to that, Allen spent six years at The Washington Post, where he covered President Bush's first term, Capitol Hill, campaign finance, and the Bush, Gore and Bradley campaigns of 2000. Before turning to national politics, he covered schools and local governments in rural counties outside Fredericksburg, Va., for The Free Lance-Star, then wrote about Doug Wilder, Oliver North, Chuck Robb and the Bobbitts for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he nurtured police sources on overnight ride-alongs through housing projects. Allen also covered Mayor Giuliani, the Connecticut statehouse and the wacky rich of Greenwich for The New York Times. Before moving to The Times, he did stints in the Richmond and Alexandria bureaus of The Washington Post. Allen grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has a B.A. from Washington and Lee University, where he majored in politics and journalism.